Researchers Turn Loser Mice Into Aggressive ‘Super-Soldiers’ Using Photons of Light

Scientists in China have discovered how to turn docile ‘loser’ mice into aggressive ‘super soldiers’ by shooting photons of light into an area of the brain responsible for ‘effortful’ behavior.

Ars Technica reports:

neuroscientist Zhou Tingting of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, joined with his colleagues to measure mouse dominance using what’s called the “tube test.” The tube test creates a scenario in which there’s not enough room for the mice to pass each other in the tube. Mice have to shove one another aside to get out. The mouse who shoves the most other mice out of its way will “win” the dominance game.

In a July 14 article for Science, Zhou and crew noted that “winner mice initiated significantly more pushes, and with a longer duration per push, than loser mice.”

Willpower

While winners weren’t necessarily stronger than losers – they were more persistent and aggressive. Researches discovered that the winner mice had more brain activity in a cluster of neurons called the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) – an area associated with ‘effortful behavior’ and ‘social dominance.’ Mice with weak dmPFC clusters always lost.

Universal Soldiers

Zhou and crew set off with the task of creating an army of ‘winner’ mice by stimulating the dmPFC regions of loser mice using a technique called ‘optogenticsm,’ which triggers neural activity using light and proteins.

When newly programmed loser mice took the tube test, they began shoving the winner mice vigorously – winning almost every time.

What does this mean for humanity?

Obviously, it’s universal soldier time if this technique works on human brains. Can we expect battlefields full of aggressive soldiers, charging towards the enemy with blinking brains implants? Probably not anytime soon…

What’s interesting, however, is that some mice retained their winner status, while others returned to a life of loserdom.

Perhaps more interesting is how researchers found they could permanently transform loser mice into winners, just by stimulating their brains six or more times in tube tests. “We observed that not all the mice returned to their original rank,” Zhejiang University neuroscientist Hu Hailan told the Guardian. “Some mice [did], but some of them had this newly dominant position.” Hu and the other researchers refer to this as the “winner effect,” in which one triumph can lead to more victories, due to a change in outlook.

 

Thanks to ‘neuroplasticity,’ every time a mouse with brain stimulation wins, it remembers – effectively rewiring some mice into more aggressive versions of their former selves. Light stimulation isn’t the only way to rewire the brain – it’s just one of the fastest. Animals can reprogram themselves through new experiences and learning.

Could the future of psychotherapy include implants to help people overcome social anxiety and fears? Or would we simply create an army of mass murderers overcome with primal rage?

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